Star Wars film-makers saw dark side of Ireland

THE lobbyist who set up a meeting with director JJ Abrams that led to Star Wars being filmed in Co Kerry has said Ireland almost missed out on the opportunity.

Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance and a friend of Abrams’s wife Katie McGrath said she found dealing with Irish public servants frustrating.

Vargo first arranged a meeting to discuss locations between Abrams and the Irish Film Board (IFB) in 2010 at the Oscar Wilde awards, which she organises. Guests included movie actors and executives.

“After the first time I took them to see JJ they just never followed up,” said Vargo. “I kept thinking that, God, people would kill for that meeting. People would pay me tens of thousands of dollars to set up a meeting with JJ Abrams. That was 2010. They didn’t follow up with emails or anything.”